Here She Is...

Sophia Carol Saracino

December 8, 2009

8:41 pm

6 pounds 1 ounce

19 inches (that is up for debate!)

I know it has taken me a few weeks, but hey, I've been busy! So here is the shortened story of how this little peanut finally made her entrance into the world! So I went in for my weekly OB appointment on Friday, December 4th, and my blood pressure was getting really high, like hypertension high, and I was still only dialated to 1 centimeter (which I had been stuck at for about 4 weeks). So my doc said that if nothing happened by that Monday, she wanted to induce me. Well, Monday came, and still no baby. Yes, that put me at exactly 40 weeks! So I went in at 8:00 that night. Well, when I got to the hospital, I was already in labor and didn't even know it! I was dialated to 3 centimeters and having contractions 3-5 minutes apart! They were going to give me a pill to soften my cervix, but since I was at a 3, they decided to just start me on Pitocin. At that point, they told me to count on dialating about a centimeter an hour. That was a big fat lie! I sat at 3 centimeters for the next 11 hours or so. The contractions definitely got worse though. So at about 6:45 on Tuesday morning, I got the epidural put in. That was good stuff! Then at 7:00 am, my doc came in and broke my water. Again, they told me to count on dialating about a centimeter and hour, and that the baby should be here later that morning. Well, obviously they didn't know that they were dealing with a very stubborn child! I spent pretty much the rest of the day waiting for her head to come down. She did not want to come out! I am still convinced it is because it was only 4 degrees and a blizzard outside! Around 5:00 pm, my epidural was wearing off and I was in a lot of pain. At that point, I was only at 8 centimeters and her head had not come down at all. By this time, they had talked to my doc, and were telling me to count on having her C section. They put some stronger meds in my epidural, but that didn't even touch the pain. So they decided to redo the epidural. I finally felt a little relief. I tried to relax and get a little sleep so I had at least a little energy in me. At about 6:30, after my body finally started to relax, I started feeling the urge to push. So they came in and checked me and I was finally at 10 centimeters, but her head had still not come down! They called my doc, and she said to go ahead and start pushing at around 7:00 (hoping her head would move down a little in that time), but still count on a C section! So at 7:00, they had me start pushing. At this point, my epidural had completely worn off and I was feeling everything! This was actually a good thing because there is no way I would have been able to push if I were still numb. I started pushing, and her head was finally coming down! They called my doc to let her know it was time to come in. It took her what seemed like forever to get there! I had to stop pushing while we were waiting for her to get there. My doc finally got there! She kept saying that the baby was having a hard time getting past my pelvic bone and I needed to push harder. The baby finally got past my pelvic bone, and two good pushes later, she finally came out! What a sweet sound, to hear that cry! My doc said it was a good thing they decided to induce me because the placenta was getting calcium deposits, which means it was starting to shut down. So she was definitely done cooking!

Now here we are, almost 3 weeks later! Sophia is healthy and happy and such a sweet baby! She went in for her 2 week check up this last week and weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and is 18.5 inches long (we're pretty sure they measured her wrong in the hospital!) She celebrated her first Christmas this weekend and was spoiled ridiculously by grammie Traci! She has been such a blessing in our lives. Words can't describe what an amazing feeling it is being a mother! And besides that, how could you not love this....

And this....